Michael Airhart (عارف) (ميخائيل )
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airhart.me
Michael Airhart (عارف) (ميخائيل )
@airhart.me
Data engineering, human rights, LGBTQ equity, Sufism, pro-feminism, and liberation theology are my gigs. Ex-journalist. UDayton, Sojourners, and Jesuit Volunteer Corps vet. Pilgrim to Colombia, El Salvador, and Morocco. BLM. Serial comma.
There's a new energy at Sears and Kmart.

Shoppers are returning! They are happily bringing cherished household goods from home and putting them on empty store shelves.

Giving an empty Sears a thriving appearance is what the holiday season is all about. ❤️
December 6, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Nowadays, ICE is a militia hired for their ideology, not their former respect for overly complex federal law. They don't care about Congressional intent, legal immigrants with complex cases, or the Constitutional rights of all people in U.S. territory.

7/8
December 3, 2025 at 3:32 AM
Millions of people have complicated immigration statuses due to the legal complexities created by Congress since the 1920s; before then, Americans didn't care about their neighbors' status, and it was legal for adult property-owning men to vote regardless of their citizenship.

5/8
December 3, 2025 at 3:32 AM
Long before Trump, ICE already had a long history of erroneously arresting U.S. citizens who have valid birth certificates from states and territories that the ICE officers are too dumb -- or desperate for arrest quotas -- to recognize as American.

3/8
December 3, 2025 at 3:32 AM
I am a former immigration caseworker for Catholic Charities and its immigration resettlement programs.

I think it's interesting to see how many Americans barely know what citizenship, permanent residence, and legal immigration status are.

1/8
December 3, 2025 at 3:32 AM
With the best economy ever, may your loved ones enjoy an extra special Thanksgiving of $1.99 spaghetti and orange soda.

🦃 Happy Thanksgiving! ❤️
November 25, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Life is its own answer.
Accept it and enjoy it, day by day.
Live as well as possible. Expect no more.
Destroy nothing. Humble nothing. Look for fault in nothing.
Leave unsullied and untouched all that is beautiful.
Hold that which lives, in all reverence.

1/2
September 4, 2025 at 4:36 AM
If we wish to preserve or restore a nation that represents and upholds the values of its people, then voting and civic engagement must be accepted in Americans' minds as everyday responsibilities.

1/5
August 18, 2025 at 5:19 AM
Before it was the Gulf of Mexico, the Aztec called it Chalchiuhtlicueyecatl. The Maya called it Nahá, or “Great Water.”
August 4, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Further refinement of the Empire State Plaza rethink.
July 15, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Here's better depiction of the State Museum rebooted to share the experience and interaction of immigrants in the City and in colonial villages.
July 15, 2025 at 8:26 PM
The Empire State Plaza is New York State's hub of government offices. But the vast complex in Albany is 25 percent vacant, and empty after 5 p.m.

Let's repopulate it with AI and biotech startups that work (and play) at all hours.
July 15, 2025 at 6:08 PM
What if Albany nights felt this alive? Picture it: At the Empire State Plaza, you’re choosing your vibe—
➡️ On the left: Neon lights, house beats, and dance floors alive with energy.
⬅️ On the right: Live country music, laughter over cold drinks, and the glow of a classic sports bar.
July 15, 2025 at 6:08 PM
New York State has struggled for 50 years to enliven its State Museum, at the Cultural Education Center. This image reimagines what a history and cultural museum -- uniting SoHo immigrant community with colonial village -- might look like, within the existing structure.
July 15, 2025 at 6:08 PM
The Empire State Plaza in Albany has an underground city that no one knows about. It's called the Concourse, but it's dead after work hours because it's not open to Plaza and surrounding city. This renovation opens up the Concourse to the surrounding Plaza and new street-level stores.
July 15, 2025 at 6:08 PM
A Plaza-level view of street life with the reflecting pools removed from a re-envisioned Empire State Plaza in Albany, New York.
July 15, 2025 at 6:08 PM
This alternate conception creates separate street-level buildings that are more consistent with the existing downtown. Food trucks and a streetcar line make the plaza a hub of urban life.
July 15, 2025 at 6:08 PM
The Empire State Plaza in Albany, New York, is a celebration of space-age Brutalism. Functional but lifeless after 5, what might it look like with a wee little makeover?

Let's dream!

For example, this aerial concept opens up the complex's underground city to the sky with street-level retail.
July 15, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Really? Nobody remembers Jeff as the villainous club owner and playboy in “Thank God It’s Friday,” the greatest Donna Summer movie of all time?

My god, what is the world coming to…
July 11, 2025 at 8:59 PM
April 3, 2025 at 5:01 AM
This has all happened before,
and it will happen again.

See also:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal...
February 4, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Back in 2008 I helped cause a ruckus in Rhode Island when the local Tim Horton's agreed to cater doughnuts and coffee to a group opposing marriage equality. After a national outcry, Timmy's corporate office put a stop to that.

#starbucks
January 14, 2025 at 5:38 PM
This link is the most beloved soundtrack of my early childhood. ❤️

Is that pathetic or what? 🙂

www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3iF...
January 8, 2025 at 4:52 PM
December 2, 2024 at 3:14 AM
Does the Christmas holiday celebrate John McClane or Hans Gruber?

#DieHard
November 30, 2024 at 5:02 PM