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Jeff Byrnes 🚰 🏙️

@thejeffbyrnes.com

1.1K followers 470 following 3.9K posts

🎸 🎻 bassist 👨🏻‍💻 SRE manager @ athenahealth 🏗️ Steering Committee member & co-founder of Somerville YIMBY 🎮 video gamer 👔 snappy dresser 📚 avid reader 🗺️ Somerville, MA, USA

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Jeff Byrnes 🚰 🏙️ @thejeffbyrnes.com · Nov 12

Co-founder & steering committee member of @somervilleyimby.org, member of Abundant Housing MA, trying to foster housing abundance to bring down prices & make our cities & towns more welcoming! #MApoli #VilleMA #SomerPoli #YIMBY

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Jeff Byrnes 🚰 🏙️ @thejeffbyrnes.com · 6h

> “new construction can be built to Passive House standards with a 2.2% average cost premium”

Sweet. We’ve had a handful of Passive House-compliant projects in Somerville, thanks to our zoning incentivizing it until recently (new state building code put the kibosh on our incentives), pretty great!

Jeff Byrnes 🚰 🏙️ @thejeffbyrnes.com · 9h

That’s the magic trick! It makes _excellent_ use of its storytelling & leans in to the “this is the story we tell, with some colorful variations you control”.

Reposted by Jeff Byrnes 🚰 🏙️

Nero Wolfe @nero-wolfe.bsky.social · 10h

They appear to be trying to lay the groundwork for designating antifa a foreign terrorist organization, which would unlock enforcement authorities. Patel is now calling it an “international criminal enterprise” in the latest White House propaganda piece.

Screenshot of Patel from WH video

“They are an organized, systemic, international criminal enterprise.”

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Reposted by Jeff Byrnes 🚰 🏙️

Aaron Cohen @unlikelywords.bsky.social · 11h

A thing I find incredibly weird is Massachusetts legalized cocktails to go on April 1st 2024, but almost every restaurant I ask about it says it's still illegal.

It was legal intermittently during pandemic, illegal for 4 months, and then legal again. You can buy drinks with your take out. Do it!

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Jeff Byrnes 🚰 🏙️ @thejeffbyrnes.com · 9h

That’s the danger of a lot of folks like him. If you only catch a few snippets, they can seem reasonable. And they work hard to launder their reputation broadly.

But look just a little deeper… 😬

Jeff Byrnes 🚰 🏙️ @thejeffbyrnes.com · 10h

“Have become” is rather generous. Perhaps “always were” is a bit more accurate.

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BlackJew 🏳️‍⚧️ @blackjew.bsky.social · 10h

I complain a lot about the media - because it is full scale bad at it's job and throughout my life been an unabashed mouthpiece for racism with little to know apology. ProPublica shows what it could be. Important read and good reporting.

ProPublica @propublica.org · 10h

“We’re physically seeing the impacts of a changing climate on these communities. … And the fact that we don’t have a government framework for dealing with these issues is not just an Alaska problem, it’s a national problem.”

(Published May with KYUK)

Newtok, Alaska, Was Supposed to Be a Model for Climate Relocation. Here’s How It Went Wrong.

The project’s challenges highlight how ill-prepared the U.S. is to respond to the way climate change is making some places uninhabitable.

www.propublica.org

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Jeff Byrnes 🚰 🏙️ @thejeffbyrnes.com · 10h

200+ years of “no no, that Black/brown/etc guy is the one taking your shit” is a helluva thing 😔

Reposted by Jeff Byrnes 🚰 🏙️

Bobby Fijan @bobbyfijan.bsky.social · 10h

A lot of the credit goes to Santi Ruiz for being really well prepared and asking great questions … but this is probably the best market wide and historical conversation I’ve had on apartments. And how it affects “apartments for families”

open.spotify.com/episode/63C6...

Why We Don't Build Apartments for Families

open.spotify.com

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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 15h

Stephen Miller is murdering Venezuelans and Colombians in cold blood bc he believes it helps his propaganda campaign to paint Latinos as dangerous.

www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

Stephen Miller views the air strikes as an opportunity to paint immigrants as a dangerous menace, according to one of the White House officials.

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Jeff Byrnes 🚰 🏙️ @thejeffbyrnes.com · 10h

Amen. As has been said, one of the most awesome insults is “who’s this clown?”

Quinn Ellis @outside2344.bsky.social · 11h

Mocking the fascists is an extremely effective strategy:
1. It wrecks their propaganda of the protesters being violent.
2. It subtly undermines their perception of power (who can be that powerful if a frog is mocking them).

Jeff Byrnes 🚰 🏙️ @thejeffbyrnes.com · 10h

👏🏻 It shouldn’t take that level of knowledge & advocacy, but here we are. Good luck!

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Jeff Byrnes 🚰 🏙️ @thejeffbyrnes.com · 10h

No, it’s @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social that does all the posting. Apparently Klein himself doesn’t do much social media? 🤷🏻‍♂️

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Jeff Byrnes 🚰 🏙️ @thejeffbyrnes.com · 10h

I’m so sorry. Doctors who won’t or don’t believe in what you say are ultra shitty.

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Jeff Byrnes 🚰 🏙️ @thejeffbyrnes.com · 11h

“Too much of a good thing” remains undefeated

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Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 13h

1. A new journal report in the prestigious Medical Journal of Australia eviscerates the Cass review, saying it is filled with fallacies and launders anti-trans disinformation.

It methodically goes through each problem in the review.

The latest from S. Baum.

Subscribe to support our journalism

New Journal Report: Cass Review “Echoes Fallacies Promoted By Anti-Trans Disinformation”

While American lawyers pushed the anti-trans Cass Review this week, Australia’s top scholars rebuked it.

www.erininthemorning.com

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Jeff Byrnes 🚰 🏙️ @thejeffbyrnes.com · 11h

Deus Ex remains a fantastic game, this is one of the big reasons for that, and I’m looking forward to replaying it when the upcoming remaster drops!

BeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 11h

Thinking about it, the original Deus Ex may be the king of choice in a game with a story, because your choices are significant, linked to gameplay and unforced. From the very start, for instance, whether you use or avoid lethal force against the “terrorists” determines something about you.

Jeff Byrnes 🚰 🏙️ @thejeffbyrnes.com · 11h

Wow, that’s damned cool!

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 11h

This is the genius of the Portland protests - they make the claims of lawlessness look not just wrong, but comical

The Daily Show @thedailyshow.com · 14h

The following is REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.

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Jeff Byrnes 🚰 🏙️ @thejeffbyrnes.com · 13h

This might be the pithiest & most cogent way to describe why using AI to “make art” is such utter bullshit.

I love making music. And it’s fucking hard & frustrating! That’s part of what I love about it. It’s _enjoyable_ to do hard things well, and part of the enjoyment is that it takes effort.

Faine Greenwood @faineg.bsky.social · 13h

I’m cool with using LLMs for stuff like “writing regexes” but why would I use them to do things my brain actually likes doing and finds rewarding?

why would I outsource eating a really good hamburger to someone else? that’s my fucking hamburger

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Nicole Symmonds, PhD @spicyethicsprof.bsky.social · 13h

I'm not sure who uses Microsoft 365 and needs to hear this, but the recent price increase from $69.99 to $99.99 is for the added functionality of CoPilot, their AI tool. If you choose Microsoft 365 without CoPilot, you can retain the $69.99/year subscription price.

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eric shamow @botmatrix.myatproto.social · 15h

This is so powerful, and it's also a powerful unpacking of privilege

Erin Biba @erinbiba.bsky.social · 15h

It’s interesting being the only person masking anymore because I’ve essentially taken my invisible disability and made it visible. So people all stare at me and whisper to each other. I now experience the world as a visibly disabled person and it’s informative.

My strategy is direct eye contact LOL

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Jeff Byrnes 🚰 🏙️ @thejeffbyrnes.com · 16h

I struggle with this when driving, and am regularly shifting in my seat to ensure I don’t miss anyone hidden by the A-pillars. Nearly creamed a ped shortly after getting this car (Toyota Venza) and don’t want that close call ever again

Reposted by Jeff Byrnes 🚰 🏙️

Boston Office of Housing @housing.boston.gov · 17h

If you rent, you need renter's insurance. It protects your belongings from fire, theft, and other disasters, and can even cover temporary housing if your apartment becomes unlivable. In Massachusetts, coverage typically costs between $10 and $30 a month. Learn more here: ow.ly/J8BR50X9jWs.

An infographic that describes the first of six reasons to get renter's insurance: Protect your stuff, get covered in case you ever need temporary housing, and if you break something major, you're covered.

An infographic that describes the final six reasons to get renter's insurance: low cost, high coverage; required by many landlords; and coverage travels with you if you move.

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Sandy Johnston @sandypsj.bsky.social · 17h

Lots of cool MBTA jobs up right now! Several in the vein of data analysis and planning. www.governmentjobs.com/careers/mbta...

Job Opportunities | MBTA Careers

www.governmentjobs.com

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