J.S. Aughtnik 🏳️‍⚧️🚺🤷🏻‍♀️
LightNews LightNews
banner
catastrobot.bsky.social
J.S. Aughtnik 🏳️‍⚧️🚺🤷🏻‍♀️
@catastrobot.bsky.social
730 followers 420 following 2.8K posts
Now mostly angry reposts about the political & pop-cultural fallout of Reagan/Thatcher. Always 100% objectively correct (trans rights are human rights; capitalism is a death cult & Republicans its priests; abolish private motor vehicle ownership). She/her
Posts Replies Media Videos
catastrobot.bsky.social
“I must now think carefully about how to deal with this completely new and unforeseeable circumstance, since as a professional journalist person my high-level academic training involved having the part of my brain which deals in basic pattern recognition violently cauterized with a hot steak knife”
BlueSky posts from Peter Sterne @petersterne.com Journalists writing about Trump's plans to send the National Guard to cities in blue states have to think carefully about how to frame it. The federal government (including the National Guard) call it an anti-crime narrative. But it increasingly feels like that's a pretext for military occupation. I don't think you can entirely discount the "crime" narrative, especially when governors are pushing back by arguing that crime is down so they're unnecessary (implicitly accepting the premise). But I do think you need to foreground that Trump is ordering military occupations of US cities. August 23, 2025 at 9:42 PM
August 24, 2025 at 3:34 AM
catastrobot.bsky.social
“Oh, you know the ones”
Screenshot of the "you know the ones" Twitter meme from @ndrew_lawrence: Conservative: I have been censored for my conservative views Me: Holy shit! You were censored for wanting lower taxes? Con: LOL no...no not those views Me: So...deregulation? Con: Haha no not those views either Me: Which views, exactly? Con: Oh, you know the ones
August 16, 2025 at 4:16 PM
catastrobot.bsky.social
happened to be in the passenger seat crossing the Potomac towards Rosslyn around 4 PM; rolled down the window and lucked into this excellent (if I do say so myself) photo of the old Key Bridge Marriott mid-demolition.

(Context via @arlnow.bsky.social : www.arlnow.com/2025/01/31/d... )
The last of a crumbling former hotel—the Key Bridge Marriott, closed in 2021 and condemned in 2023. Still 12 stories tall but now only a couple rooms deep… and you might not enjoy the amenities. Between the hotel and the camera are leafy green trees. In the foreground is the teal railing, and one of the light-posts, of Key Bridge itself.
July 23, 2025 at 10:12 PM
catastrobot.bsky.social
He knows about your party, he is calling you
“Dude” in large letters on the side of a red-and-black soda can
July 16, 2025 at 7:36 PM
catastrobot.bsky.social
“Bae Systems: Our Warfighting Technologies Are ‘On Fleek’”
Washington, DC Metro bus, fully wrapped in an advertisement for “BAE Systems,” whose tagline and imagery could not be more clear in communicating that they are a defense contractor of some kind
July 11, 2025 at 10:32 PM
catastrobot.bsky.social
Pokémon Go x MLB merch seems to be up for order.

…I hate it.

1.) why does every Nats thing have to be fucking MAGA red 😩
2.) what in the off-model Y2K fan site is this art?!
Screenshot of order page on the MLB app showing Pokémon Go co-branded merch for six teams Red jersey with janky-looking Pokémon art
July 11, 2025 at 6:25 PM
catastrobot.bsky.social
Fellow Virginia voters, if you’ve got some time today, PLEASE call Tim Kaine & Mark Warner about the *other* attack on trans healthcare this week.

I modified the MadyCast template & abridged it to voicemail length—for a call to Warner, he’s also on the Finance committee (and don’t call him Kaine 😅)
Hi, I’m NAME, a constituent from ZIP CODE. I’m calling to express my dismay at a particular provision of the Republican reconciliation bill, which would ban federal funding of gender affirming care for patients of ANY age under Medicaid and ACA plans. This bill would impact many of my friends and remove access to lifesaving healthcare. It is a violation of basic human rights. As a member of the Budget Committee, I know Senator Kaine has the ability to request the Parliamentarian to rule that certain provisions violate the Byrd rule. This provision specifically violates subsection 313(b)(1)(D) and 313(b)(1)(A) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. I beg the senator to please convince the Parliamentarian that this provision is clearly not related to the budget—it is meant to strip care from me and other trans people, because we are trans. It’s an unconstitutional and discriminatory provision that MUST be killed BEFORE the Senate votes to approve the bill. To be clear, a “no” vote on the bill itself is NOT enough here. At the very least, Senator Kaine MUST speak out against this provision on social media, in committee hearings and on the Senate floor—his constituents will be watching. I hope Senator Kaine will be sure to raise a point of order about this, and emphasize to the Parliamentarian how small of a portion of Medicaid gender affirming care is—likely under $1 billion. I look forward to hearing the Senator’s plans to challenge this provision of the legislation. It is a matter of life and death for me and my friends.
June 19, 2025 at 7:35 PM
catastrobot.bsky.social
There are a couple great ones from @zachweinersmith.bsky.social / @smbccomics.bsky.social on this, including one about “we’ve created artificially intelligent students.”

And this other one, which I think of *constantly*: www.smbc-comics.com/comic/2012-0...
Woman wearing silly parody of a college pride hat says “the easier college gets, the dumber you look for not having a degree.”
June 19, 2025 at 3:45 PM
catastrobot.bsky.social
the artist — the art
Mel sits on a sofa drinking wine with a well-deserved look of satisfaction on their face A gorgeous golden-brown lasagna bubbles just above the edge of a casserole dish, fresh out of the oven, sitting on the stovetop to cool.
June 13, 2025 at 1:21 AM
catastrobot.bsky.social
oooh that sounds good! Here’s the recipe I use, it’s adapted from a postcard lol. And I gave them 22 min at 400 F, which turned out perfect imo. #muffin #muffins #MuffinRecipe #recipe #BlueberryMuffins #baking
Maine Wild Blueberry Muffins Ingredients - 1 egg - 1/2 cup milk - 1/4 cup vegetable oil - 1 1/2 cup flour - 1/2 cup sugar - 2 tsp baking powder - 1/2 tsp salt - 2 cups Maine wild blueberries - (aka 1 pint basket) Preparation - Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin pan. - Beat egg slightly, stir in milk and oil. - Mix in the dry ingredients until the flour is moistened. Batter should be lumpy, do not over mix. - Add the blueberries. - Fill the muffin cups and bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Yields 12 muffins. Notes 2025-06-11, in Maine - added 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ginger, scant 1/4 tsp vanilla - baking cup liners in that aluminum tin that’s
June 11, 2025 at 11:35 PM
catastrobot.bsky.social
Fresh blueberry muffins today. Been a minute, but I still got the touch.

#muffins #blueberrymuffins #bloobmoofs #baking #food
A tray of freshly-baked fresh blueberry muffins. They have that nice golden-brown top and the blueberry oozes out of them. The good stuff. A close-up of a blueberry muffin out of which a bite has been taken.
June 11, 2025 at 5:35 PM
catastrobot.bsky.social
I love environmental storytelling
On a highway rest stop, next to the door, a sign reads “RESTROOMS ONLY - OPEN 7 Days a Week 6 a m to 8 pm.” The open hours are scribbled over with black marker. In the same black marker, above and below the sign, is written “This is bullshit! 24/7 is needed!!!”
June 9, 2025 at 9:58 PM
catastrobot.bsky.social
no, of course! What an opportunity!

Here, I’ll do a big post with alt text once the weekend’s done, but these are my faves so far:
June 8, 2025 at 12:21 PM
catastrobot.bsky.social
It still makes me chuckle, tho, that the guy who composed for all Ryan Coogler’s films—

including Sinners and both Black Panther movies—

and also (co-?)produced all the Childish Gambino albums (Glover approached him when both worked on Community)—

looks like this
Picture from Wikipedia of Ludwig Göransson, Swedish composer born 1984. Shown in 2018, Göransson is a white man with blue eyes, long brown hair and a scruffy chin.
June 4, 2025 at 4:04 PM
catastrobot.bsky.social
Having a little too much fun with my post in the #PokémonGO group suggesting that people prep #MegaVenusaur for the #TapuBulu raids tonight lol

#Pokémon #Venusaur #PokemonGoAR #GoSnapshot #GoSnapshotCelebration #PokemonGO
Mega Venusaur, a five-foot-long teal toad with a palm tree growing out of its back, whips its vines in an attack. Its target, in the foreground, is Tapu Bulu, a vaguely-Hawaiian Islander-aesthetic-inspired, vaguely-bull-shaped grass/fairy Pokémon.
May 28, 2025 at 9:10 PM
catastrobot.bsky.social
I know we’re all dealing with The Horrors today but if you have a sec (after you’ve called your reps) please tell my sweetie @melbeast.bsky.social how cute they are in the glasses that protect their pretty eyes from The Bad Screen 👓😚
A pretty white person with shoulder-length red-brown hair wears over-ear headphones along with anti-computer-glare blue-light glasses in a black frame
May 22, 2025 at 6:49 PM
catastrobot.bsky.social
timeline synchronicity
post to which this is a reply, juxtaposed in the feed above a post that is a joke about fossils
May 21, 2025 at 1:52 PM
catastrobot.bsky.social
So yeah, yesterday I saw my friend out in Chantilly, Ms. Spacemuseum—or as her friends call her, “Erin.”

#AirAndSpace #UdvarHazyCenter #NationalAirAndSpaceMuseum
#Pokémon #PokémonGo #PokémonGoAR #GoSnapshot #GoSnapshotCelebration #Deoxys #Charizard #Drifloon #Drifblim #Aerodactyl #Smithsonian
Deoxys, an orange-and-teal DNA alien Pokémon, stands atop the outstretched solar panel of the prototype Mars rover (Sojourner/Pathfinder) on display at the National Air & Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center. Shiny Charizard, a charcoal-colored dragon Pokémon, dives through the air in the gigantic hangar of the National Air & Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center, where three airplanes including a full-sized Boeing airliner are on display behind it Drifloon and Drifblim, purple-red-white-and-yellow balloon Pokémon, float happily in the air in the huge hangar that is the National Air & Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center. Behind them is a purple-red-and-white Federal Express jet airplane on display. In the massive hangar of the National Air & Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center, hang gliders and other small sport aircraft are on display, suspended in the air. Soaring alongside them is Aerodactyl, a grey pterosaur Pokémon, with its wings spread in parallel to the nearest hang glider.
May 19, 2025 at 9:58 PM
catastrobot.bsky.social
Shiny Meowths at the ramen shop ✨😸
#Pokémon #PokemonGO #GoSnapshot #PokemonGoAR #GoSnapshotCelebration #ARofTheDay #ShinyPokemon #Meowth #AlolanMeowth #GalarianMeowth
On a table in a brightly lit takeout ramen/sushi restaurant are the shiny variants of the three forms of the Pokémon Meowth: deep blue Alolan Meowth, winking with a smug grin; rich tan Kantonian Meowth (original form), posing in a manner similar to the maneki neko on the counter behind it; and bearded Galarian Meowth, laughing with its sharp teeth exposed in a grin.
May 15, 2025 at 3:06 AM
catastrobot.bsky.social
Sandygast Spotlight Hour success: *two* shinies (vs my previous “none”)! If you know what the regular version looks like, you can see why I wanted to grind for these ✨🏝️🏰 #Pokémon #PokemonGO #GoSnapshot #PokemonGoAR #ShinyPokemon #Sandygast #Pallosand #Groudon #PrimalGroudon
The Pokémon Sandygast, Pallosand, and Primal Groudon stand on a pebbled walkway by the open gate of a historical fort park. All three are their striking dark-gray-and-gold Shiny forms, as opposed to their usual colors.
May 14, 2025 at 12:13 AM
catastrobot.bsky.social
Found myself making this image just now, because so far being forty is awesome
Still of the scene from “Taken” (2009) wherein Liam Neeson’s character is talking on the phone to the assailants have just kidnapped his daughter, saying “I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have… are a very particular set of skills.” But he’s also wearing the iconic red-and-white hat of Ash Ketchum from Pokémon.
May 13, 2025 at 2:53 AM
catastrobot.bsky.social
“‘Give me a writing credit and I’ll give you enough traumatized kids to fill a basketball arena,’ that’s the Stan Berkowitz Promise”
Screenshot of a wiki entry showing Stan Berkowitz’ writing credits for Superman: The Animated Series and its successor Batman Beyond. Highlighted are the titles of some episodes with particularly EC Comics-like endings: The Way of All Flesh, The Late Mr. Kent, Disappearing Inque, Earth Mover, Lost Soul, Sneak Peek, and April Moon. And those are just the ones I remember off the top of my head
May 9, 2025 at 1:08 AM
catastrobot.bsky.social
the only Pope Leo 14 I recognize
Screenshot of Pokémon Go inventory screen. A search for “cp14” shows all Pokémon in the collection with a mere 14 CP—nearly, but not quite, the lowest possible—including, front and center, a shiny Popplio (the Italian clown seal starter Pokémon from the Alola region)
May 8, 2025 at 7:01 PM
catastrobot.bsky.social
this comic by @3psboyd.bsky.social & @polygoncherub.bsky.social surfaces in my brain so, so often

(www.threepanelsoul.com/comic/reside...)
Comic titled "Residents" from Three Panel Soul dot com, by Matthew Boyd and Ian McConville. An exhausted-looking nurse and an equally exhausted-looking doctor stand next to each other in a hospital. The nurse, slumped, says "how come they make residents work 36-hour shifts? That seems dangerous." The doctor replies "well, there's a very good reason the surgeon William Stewart Halstead set that standard over 100 years ago." "Is it related to cocaine?" asks the nurse. "There is some cocaine in the story," answers the doctor.
May 6, 2025 at 7:26 PM
catastrobot.bsky.social
*deep breaths* alright, went back through my own older pics. Does look like #PokemonGO changed how shadows render around the end of December. Maybe they’re still tweaking it & this guy got A/B’d into a different group than everyone else? Rare but not unprecedented… I’ll back down.

(…for now… 😤 )
Crop of an otherwise-unedited Pokémon Go AR photo from December 9, 2024. The legs of a Genesect are visible standing on a concrete sidewalk. The rendered shadow “cast” by the creature on the sidewalk is blurred & diffuse. Crop of an otherwise-unedited Pokémon Go AR photo from January 6, 2025. The bottom half of an Excadrill is visible standing on dirty snow. The rendered shadow “cast” by the creature on the snow is darker and sharper than the shadow in the Genesect picture, with visible pixelation at the edges.
May 5, 2025 at 2:43 AM